Jeremy Plexico

First-year Ball State baseball head coach Alex Marconi announced the hiring of Jeremy Plexico as assistant coach/pitching coach for the Cardinals Tuesday afternoon. Plexico joins assistant coach Pete Milas and volunteer assistant coach Eric Van Matre on the staff for the 2011 season.

“I am very excited to have Jeremy join our coaching staff,” Marconi said. “With his playing background both in college and professionally, he has acquired the skill set to be instrumental in our pitchers’ development. He comes highly recommended from many well respected coaches in college baseball, both as a coach and as a person. I am excited to see the development of our pitching staff under his guidance.”

Plexico, a native of Chapin, S.C, was a standout at Winthrop University and spent five years in the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals organization. He spent the past season as the pitching coach at Young Harris College (Ga.) where he helped the Mountain Lions to a 39-17 overall record. Under his tutelage, freshman left-hander Mitchell Knox earned All-Conference honors while posting an 8-3 record with 48 strikeouts compared to just 20 walks.

“I am excited about the opportunity Coach Marconi has given me to join the Ball State baseball family,” Plexico said. “I have always had a tremendous amount of respect for Ball State Baseball and I am happy to be on board as a Cardinal. I look forward to learning a lot, and working hard to help our players and program continue to develop.”

Plexico was a left-handed standout at Winthrop where he earned Third Team All-America honors as a senior after leading the Big South Conference with an 11-3 record. He appeared in 17 games and posted a league-high five complete games while logging a 2.90 ERA in 108.2 innings pitched. As a junior, he had a 9-5 record with a 4.38 ERA in 109 innings of work. He transferred to Winthrop from the University of South Carolina.

Plexico excelled not only on the playing field at Winthrop but in the classroom as well. As a senior, he was voted by the Big South Conference’s sports information directors as the league’s Male Scholar Athlete of the Year. Also, he earned the Winthrop Senior Academic Award for the highest GPA for a senior male and Big South Presidential Scholar accolades.

Plexico was drafted out of Winthrop in the 19th round of the 2003 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Montreal Expos. In his first professional stop, he tied for the Vermont Expos’ team-lead in victories in the short-season New York-Penn League in 2003. In 2004, he had one of his best years posting an 8-5 record with six saves and a 2.63 ERA. He also struck out 102 batters in 82 innings of work while holding opponents to a .195 batting average.

After having shoulder surgery in December of 2004, Plexico started an impressive 2006 season with Potomac of the Carolina League posting a 3-0 record and a 1.93 ERA out of the bullpen before being promoted to Double-A Harrisburg. He made 34 appearances for Harrisburg and posted a 4-3 record with a 4.00 ERA. He also made 43 appearances, including 40 out of the bullpen, in 2007 for the Senators.

Plexico returned to his role as a starter in 2008 when he joined the Gary Southshore Railcats of the Northern League. He posted a 10-3 record with a 2.79 ERA while being named the Northern League Pitcher of the Year. He held opponents to a .250 batting average while striking out 68 batters and walking just 32. His 135.1 innings pitched led the league, while his 2.79 ERA was third. He was also the winning pitcher for the Northern League All-Star Game and was named to Baseball America’s All-Independent League Second Team.

Plexico received his bachelor’s degree in history in 2002 and his master’s degree in teaching (social studies) in 2008 from Winthrop.

Ray Tanner

South Carolina head baseball coach Ray Tanner will be honored in Charleston, S.C. on Wednesday, Sept. 1 prior to the start of the Charleston Riverdogs-Greenville Drive game at Joe Riley Park. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tanner will be presented the key to the city by Charleston Mayor Joe Riley as well as throw out a ceremonial first pitch to former Gamecock and current Riverdog player DeAngelo Mack.

“Baseball fans throughout America were mesmerized by the dramatic achievement of Ray Tanner’s University of South Carolina Gamecocks in winning their First Men’s National Championship at the College World Series in June,” said Charleston mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. The State of South Carolina could not have a better ambassador than Ray Tanner. He is an excellent baseball coach and an extraordinary leader. The City of Charleston is so proud to name September 1 Ray Tanner Day and to welcome him to our community.”

“The RiverDogs are excited about partnering with the City of Charleston to bring Coach Ray Tanner to Riley Park,” said RiverDogs General Manager Dave Echols. “Coach Tanner is not only a great ambassador for the University of South Carolina but a great ambassador for the game of baseball, and we’re pleased to have him return to one of our games.”

Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America’s National Coach of the Year, Ray Tanner just completed his 14th year as head coach at the University of South Carolina and his 23rd year as a head coach in collegiate baseball. He continues to lead the Gamecock baseball program to unprecedented heights with his commitment to excellence. Over the last decade, Tanner has established one of the premier programs in all of college baseball with milestones and accomplishments piling up each season. Atop the list is the 2010 national championship, as the Gamecocks became the first team ever to win six consecutive games in Omaha on the way to a national title, the first men’s national championship at the University of South Carolina. This past season’s trip was the fourth to the College World Series for Coach Tanner along with three consecutive trips from 2002-2004.

Under Tanner’s leadership, South Carolina owns the longest current streak of NCAA Regional appearances among the 12 SEC schools with 11 straight trips to the tournament dating back to the 2000 season. In that span, Carolina has eight NCAA Super Regional appearances (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010). South Carolina is one of only six schools in the nation to make at least eight NCAA Super Regionals in the last 11 years and one of only eight schools in the country to have reached the NCAA Regionals every season from 2000 to the present. The program’s 11-year total record of 522-217 is the fourth highest win total among NCAA Division I schools. South Carolina has 11 consecutive seasons of 40 or more wins.

The Gamecocks have also collected championships in the Southeastern Conference with regular season titles in 2000 and 2002 along with a SEC Tournament crown in 2004. Tanner’s last 11 teams have featured 20 All-America performers including this past year with senior right-handed pitcher Blake Cooper.

At South Carolina, Tanner has a .692 winning percentage – the second highest in Southeastern Conference history. This past season, Tanner also reached a career milestone, recording his 1,000th career victory as he became the fourth fastest active coach to reach that total. His 14-year record is 634-282 with a career record of 1,029-455-3 in 23 seasons as a head coach in Division I baseball.

Bradley LeCroy

Clemson Head Coach Jack Leggett announced the addition of Bradley LeCroy to the baseball coaching staff on Tuesday. LeCroy replaces Tom Riginos, who accepted the head-coaching job at Winthrop in early August. LeCroy will assume the role of recruiting coordinator along with hitters and outfielders coach.

LeCroy spent the past three seasons (2008-10) as Tennessee’s infielders coach and recruiting coordinator under Head Coach Todd Raleigh. Prior to his stint in Knoxville, LeCroy served under Raleigh at Western Carolina in 2006 and 2007. LeCroy was also a volunteer assistant at Clemson for three seasons from 2003-05 and was an assistant coach at Anderson College during the 2001 and 2002 seasons. In his 10 years as a coach, LeCroy has coached 37 players who went on to be drafted and 40 players who have signed professional baseball contracts.

“We are very excited to have Coach LeCroy return to Clemson,” said Leggett. “He has a long history of playing and coaching on very successful Clemson teams. He will be a great addition to our staff and will be valuable in many ways. His recruiting efforts and work ethic have been outstanding at each school he has been at as a coach. Success seems to follow him and I know our players will respond to his personality and knowledge of the game. He is one of the top recruiters in the country and he is very excited about his opportunity here at Clemson.”

During his tenure at Tennessee, LeCroy put together a pair of signing classes that ranked among the best in the nation. In 2008, his signing class was rated #28 in the country by Collegiate Baseball, then his 2009 signing class was ranked #14 in the nation by Baseball America.

Tennessee posted 67 home runs in 56 games in 2008, at the time the fifth-best mark in school history. A year later, he was a big reason the Volunteers slugged 87 long balls in just 55 games, good for the second-highest total in Tenneseee history. LeCroy also coached one of Tennessee’s best offensive players in history in Cody Hawn, who hit for the team Triple Crown in 2009 by totaling a .364 batting average, 22 home runs, and 81 RBIs.

LeCroy led Western Carolina’s offense to heights not seen in recent history. In 2007, the Catamounts were in the top 11 in the nation in runs per game, homers per game, slugging percentage, doubles per game, and batting average. Western Carolina had a 7-2 combined record against the ACC, Big Ten, and SEC in 2007 and had a school-record five players selected in the Major League draft. He also recruited, signed, and coached 2007 Southern Conference Player-of-the-Year Kenny Smith, who hit 20 homers with a .759 slugging percentage.

During the 2005 season, the last of his three years as the volunteer assistant at Clemson, LeCroy contributed to the Tigers’ third-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and a trip to the Waco (TX) Super Regional. He was a big reason Taylor Harbin had a stellar .974 fielding percentage along with 28 doubles, 10 homers, and 63 RBIs in earning second-team All-America honors as a freshman.

In 2004, the Tigers hit 73 home runs and 149 doubles. He coached Brad McCann to an All-America season, as the third-baseman hit .379 with 16 homers and 65 RBIs. The 2003 season was his first coaching at Clemson, his alma mater. The Tigers had a .326 batting average in ACC regular-season games, the best mark in the ACC by 19 points. LeCroy coached four all-conference players in 2003, all of which comprised the Tigers’ starting infield. Included in that list were underclassmen Brad McCann (3B) and Russell Triplett (SS). Seniors Michael Johnson (1B) and David Slevin (2B) also earned All-ACC honors as infielders in 2003.

LeCroy coached in the Valley League in 2003 as an assistant coach for the New Market Rebels in Virginia. The Rebels were the Valley League runnerup after compiling a 31-18 record. The 31 wins were a franchise record, while he coached eight all-stars on the Rebels’ squad. Included among those all-stars was Most Valuable Pitcher Phil Bartleski. LeCroy also worked closely with Kevin White, who was the league homer and RBI champion.

LeCroy was an assistant coach at nearby Anderson College in 2001 and 2002. In 2001, he coached David Mattox, who was drafted in the 11th round by the New York Mets and was named Minor League Pitcher-of-the-Year in the Mets’ organization in 2002. In 2002, the Trojans led the Division II ranks with 41 triples. LeCroy coached three all-conference players during his time at Anderson College.

During both summers of 2001 and 2002, he was the head coach of the Williamston (SC) American Legion team. Both teams played in the state legion playoffs.

LeCroy earned four letters at Clemson from 1997-00. He was a valuable utility player who hit .266 in 173 career games and 395 at-bats. He was the everyday starting shortstop on the 1999 team that came one inning from making it to the College World Series. LeCroy was the starting shortstop alongside Khalil Greene, who was the starting third-baseman on that 1999 squad. LeCroy was also a member of Clemson’s 2000 College World Series team and a member of four NCAA Tournament teams as a Tiger.

LeCroy, 32, earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Clemson in May of 2001. LeCroy was a three-sport star at nearby Walhalla (SC) High School, earning all-state honors in baseball, basketball, and football.

He was born Bradley James LeCroy on February 1, 1978 in Anderson, SC. He married the former Meredith Chandler on January 8, 2005. Meredith was a four-time letterwinner in tennis at Clemson from 1996-99.

Kyle Parker

The negotiations went deep into the night but before the deadline for signing arrived at 11:59 PM Monday night, Clemson outfielder Kyle Parker, Tiger lefthander Casey Harman and USC righthander Sam Dyson signed their contracts with the Rockies, Cubs and Blue Jays respectively.

Parker, the Rockies first round pick,  signed for 1.4 million dollars according to the Denver Post.  That’s about 800-thousand dollars less than what he was reportedly offered earlier in the summer to sign and give up football.  This deal reportedly will allow Parker to continue playing football after this season.  But he’ll also be eligible for the NFL Draft next spring. 

Casey Harman

Harman was the 29th round pick of the Cubs.  Terms of his contract were not available.  Dyson was a fourth round pick of the Cubs and Baseball America reported he signed for 600-thousand dollars.

Also signing last night was USC recruit Mason Williams.  The outfielder from Florida was the Yankees fourth round pick and reportedly signed for 1.45 million dollars, the largest signing bonus the Yankees gave to any of their picks. 

Coastal Carolina third baseman Scott Woodward apparently did not sign last night with Oakland.  He was the A’s 15th round pick.  Woodward would be the highest draft pick of the A’s not to sign. 

The biggest deal of the night went to the #1 pick in the draft.  The Nationals landed catcher Bryce Harper with a guarantee of 9.9 million dollars, a record for a position player signing with the team that drafted him. 

Sam Dyson

Wando High School pitcher Drew Cisco, who had signed with Georgia, agreed to his contract with the Reds for a 975-thousand dollar bonus, the largest given to a fifth round pick this year. 

Several Clemson and USC players who were drafted opted not to sign.  For the Tigers that list includes returnees third baseman John Hinson and outfielder Jeff Schaus, and signees shortstop Steve Wilkerson and outfielder Jonathan McGibbon.

For USC, pitcher Steven Neff decided to return to school, and recruits lefthander Bryan Harper, outfielder DeSean Anderson, righthander Spencer Jordan, shortstop Pete Mooney, righthander Drake Thomason and righthander Forest Koumas opted to go to school.

Other Tigers drafted but not yet signed are pitcher Casey Harman, third baseman John Hinson and outfielder Jeff Schaus.  The Tigers also have a couple of drafted recruits who will go right up to the deadline.

USC fully expects pitcher Sam Dyson to sign with Toronto by the deadline.  He was the Blue Jays 4th round pick.  But unsiged drafted pitcher Steven Neff is expected to return to school. 

And Coastal Carolina will be keeping an eye on third baseman Scott Woodward who also remains unsigned as the deadline approaches.

Bradley LeCroy

Clemson baseball coach Jack Leggett is expected to hire one of his former players,  Tennessee assistant Bradley LeCroy,  to replace Tom Riginos a source said Tuesday afternoon.  Riginos is now the head coach at Winthrop. 

The source thought the announcement would come on Tuesday but apparently all of the paperwork and background checks had not been completed.

LeCroy is a Walhalla native who has been the recruiting coordinator and infielders coach at Tennessee the past four seasons.  The 32 year old  played at Clemson from 1997-2000.

Brad Miller

Clemson rising junior shortstop Brad Miller led Team USA Baseball with a .441 batting average during the summer, which culminated with a silver-medal performance at the FISU World University Baseball Championships inside Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday. It was Miller’s second year on the squad, as he played for Team USA after his freshman season in 2009.

Miller, who was one of only four team members to hit at least .300 for the season, led Team USA in batting average by 80 points while playing 14 games (seven starts) for the Red, White, & Blue. He was 15-for-34 with four doubles, one homer, six RBIs, 11 runs, a .647 slugging percentage, six walks, a .team-high 525 on-base percentage, and one steal. Miller also committed just one error in the field in 27 chances (.963 fielding percentage).

Team USA went 5-1 at the world championships but lost in the title game to Cuba 4-3 in 10 innings. Team USA had a 16-3 record in its 19 games over the summer.

The Windermere, FL native was coming off a stellar 2010 season with the Tigers when he led the squad with a .357 batting average along with 19 doubles, four triples, eight homers, 49 RBIs, a .458 on-base percentage, and nine steals in 69 games while helping Clemson reach the College World Series.

Mike Hampton

A college baseball source tells SportsTalk former Clemson standout Mike Hampton is under consideration as the replacement for Tom Riginos on the Clemson baseball staff.  Riginos is now the head coach at Winthrop. 

Tennessee assistant Bradley LeCroy, another former Tiger player, and current Clemson assistant Michael Johnson are two others in the mix according to the source. 

Hampton has been the recruiting coordinator and hitting coach at St. Johns for the past nine seasons.  He also has coached at West Virginia and spent a season as a volunteer coach for Jack Leggett at Clemson.  He also spent a season as a head coach in the Coastal Plain League. 

Hampton was an All American third baseman at Clemson in 1994 and was the fourth round draft choice of the Cincinnati Reds that summer.  He graduated from Clemson in 1997.

“It’s an honor to be a part of the baseball program at South Carolina,” said associate head coach Chad Holbrook. “I’m so thankful to Ray Tanner, athletics director Eric Hyman and President Pastides for allowing me to coach at such a proud university and baseball program. We will continue to do all we can to ensure that our program competes at the highest level. It is my goal to be a coach at South Carolina a very long time. My family loves Columbia and we love calling South Carolina home.”

Holbrook, serves as hitting instructor, oversees the Gamecock offense, including base running and the short game and is the third base coach. He also works with the outfielders and is the team’s recruiting coordinator.

Holbrook came to the Gamecock program in July of  2008 after serving 15 seasons as a member of the University of North Carolina coaching staff.

“We are fortunate to have Coach Holbrook as an integral part of our program,” said head coach Ray Tanner. “He is an exceptional coach, recruiter and mentor for our players. The job he has done and continues to do is exemplarily. He is one of the top coaches in the country and he is an outstanding ambassador for the University of South Carolina.”

You can listen to Riginos introductory news conference below, courtesy of SCRN affillaite WRHI in Rock Hill.

Tom Riginos press conference

tom riginos 8-4